D361, morning [mass video]

[windbreak]

[The name attached to this post is "Naoto Shirogane", but Naoto's is definitely not the only face to greet the camera as it switches on, let alone the one initially taking up most of the picture - although "greet" implies some sort of presence and purposefulness, both of which seem to be lacking in the taller young man currently looking over at somebody just out of frame.]

- sense, doesn't it? We don't know if anyone's going to believe a bunch of high-schoolers even if we're all saying the same thing, but a detective's another story. So...

[He looks down at the bracelet, brow furrowing a little, pointer finger at the ready, and... does a pretty dramatic double take.]

Huh? It started recording already?

Whether we're believed or not isn't our concern. We can simply give out the information we have and nothing else. [Those who choose to listen to it or not... that's up to them.

But since the feed is on her attention is drawn away from Yosuke's floundering.]

I want to make it clear that although we are familiar with these particular events they are by no means the exact same. However I've theorized they could be quite similar so I implore everyone to listen to what we have to say.

Yeah, dammit! You listen to- uh. [The young man to interrupt this time goes a bit red, and lets her talk on.]

Subtle, Kanji... [But Yosuke backs off too as he mutters it, leaving the picture slightly less crowded.]

You heard the guy. Better listen to the lady or you'll have one scary punk coming after you! [Rise doesn't try to jump into the screen like the others, but her voice is more than recognizable.]

Gah! Rise...

[Naoto sighs a bit at the ruckus from her friends but continues once they've settled down a bit.]

I'm not certain what the alternate universe is precisely the important thing to note is that there is a possible means of escaping. If you haven't already encountered then you might. Secrets, lies and repressed feelings particularly pertaining to yourself seem to surface more readily in the alternate world. Although difficult to hear and even more difficult to face if you can do so you'll be set free and return to the real Asgard like you'd never left.

It sounds easy in theory but in practice is quite a hurdle since it requires accepted the... darker parts of ourselves whether we like them or not. I implore everyone to keep this mind if they're taken to that alternate world. By accepting everything you're faced with about yourself you can escape.

[There's a brief pause, after a fashion.]

Wow, Naoto, good going. I think you just lost the entire audience. [Yosuke's attempt to jostle his way back into the video isn't a careful one, and half of him ends up still cut off by the edge of the frame. Oblivious, he clears his throat.] Just listen! I know you've all got other stuff to worry about, and I know she makes it sound sterile, but trust us, it's not. The important thing is, if you fall in there too - whatever you do, whatever you end up hearing - don't say "you're not me". Okay? Okay.

Oh, and if anyone's seen... Eh, never mind. [Before anyone can correct him, he reaches down and switches Naoto's recording off.]

[ooc: replies and possibly threadjacks may be from any combination of Yosuke, Kanji, Rise and Naoto!]

Comments

perma!video............!

[subecho]

How have you come by the knowledge?

[windbreak]

With our own eyes, how else? We all fell in - I mean, we all wound up there on the other side, and it turns out we all made it out of there pretty much the same way. That makes it way more than a coincidence.

[subecho]

And you all... at once... thought to accept the darkness inside yourselves?

[windbreak]

Well... yeah?

[This beat is just long enough to be awkward.]

It's like Naoto says. We all know each other from back home, and we've all seen something like this happen before. So we figured we'd try it. [Which makes it sound more premeditated than it was, but hey.]

[subecho]

Speak your mind fully, or hold tongue: what happened in your homeland?

[detects]

Experience, I suppose. Twice even. Like I said this situation does differ from the last but at the core it is the same. However by doing what we did in a past situations we overcame that strange mirror world.

[subecho]

Then explain the past situation better.

[detects]

How do I explain this... [She pauses for just a moment, contemplating. Trying to spell this out in layman's terms was the hard part.]

In our home world there existed another unbeknownst to most of the population. Upon discovering it we took it upon ourselves to learn about it and explore it. Someone was abusing the powers of this other world to kill people. We went to rescue them. This other world... would manifest a version of you that represented your darkest side of yourself. It was the representation of your insecurities, your fears, your worries... anything undesirable about yourself. The natural response to it is to reject it but upon doing so it would gain individuality and attempt to kill you.

It's... a bit of an abstract concept to imagine. Essentially the goal to pacifying it is to accept it. The difficulty comes in seeing your insecurities lay bare and acknowledging it is also a part of you.

video.

[brainiest]

[ Hermione leans in to reply - and you might hear a strange... Noise behind her as she makes a soft 'shushing' sound and purses her lips. It's obviously not going well and she looks incredibly stressed. ]

So - the people that are trapped there, wherever there is. You think they have to be honest with themselves to come back?

[windbreak]

[It's only a video, but Yosuke has to stop himself from cringing back anyway.] Uh, what was...?

[Wait, no, he doesn't care what that was!]

Well, anyway... Look, I'd be sceptical too, but it's not just what we think, okay? It's what we did.

[brainiest]

Sorry that - it's an emu, don't worry about it.

[ Professor Snape had disappeared and someone had to look after Steven, despite the fact that he really didn't seem to like her. Someone had to otherwise the poor bird would be alone. ]

I'm not sceptical, I promise you. I just - what kind of honesty are you thinking of? Do you have an example?

[windbreak]

Uh huh. [An emu. Sure. He... tries not to stare.

But he does end up scratching his head.] What kind of...? I dunno about an example - it's different for everyone. But it's more than just being honest, you know? More than... [He waves a hand vaguely.] Like, anyone can accidentally blurt out a load of crap and then go "yeah, that sure is stuff I didn't want to say", but that isn't the same as really owning it. Facing it, whatever. That's not enough to bust you out of there. You gotta take a step back and see it for what it is.

Re: video.

[realmenknitplushies]

Yeah. We ain't just pulling this stuff outta nowhere!

[brainiest]

Of course not, there must be a reason for things. Could you give me an example, just so I can understand?

[realmenknitplushies]

Man...

[Owning up to this stuff to friends was one thing. Telling strangers, another. But he'll try. The worst's done, after all.]

For me, it was mostly... ownin' up to the way I feel about some of my friends. Facing what that means.

video.

[detects]

Yes. It's how we were able to return so I imagine it could work for everyone.

video.

[brainiest]

I hope you're right. I'm not sure how things work in comparison to your world, but if it's something as difficult as that... It could take some time.

video.

[detects]

Of that there is no doubt. For one simply getting people to face themselves in such a manner is no easy task for anyone. But I believe the biggest problem is that this isn't exactly the same situation and therefore... might not be the final solution.

video;

[discrepant]

[There will be an SS agent slightly bowing his head towards the camera for the first few moments until he raises his head again.]

Thank you very much for speaking over your discovery. Even if it is somewhat difficult to fully understand the concept, it is by no means a piece of advice any sensible individual would ignore or disregard even if it is said by a group of youths such as yourself. I do not believe age should determine one's credibility in any way especially when there is proof over the matter.

[Soushi's long version of "I believe you" is what is being said.]

Are any of you able to return to the other world as you described it as beforehand? [And.] Are you planning on spreading the information to those trapped in that world?

video;

[detects]

Thank you for that. [Nothing pleases her more than when someone takes her seriously and ignores her age.]

I don't believe any of us have tried it... and I'm not certain any of us could return on our own at this point after escaping. [A pause.] Nor would we particularly wish to. I suppose our goal by telling people on this side is that should they get pulled into the other world they could spread the word themselves. Or if there are others who wish to venture into the other world on purpose to do just that might work as well.

But it certainly isn't as easy as it sounds to simply... accept one's self like that.

video;

[discrepant]

Not at all. It was my pleasure.

[Just as his servitude smile will appear, it will slowly begin to weaken the more he continue to listen to the explanation from the other young woman, and lack of plans to return to the other world, beyond the mirror, to try and warn as many people as possible that were currently trapped. But the piece of information that will force Soushi to pay the most special attention to was over the explanation that describes the difficulty of accepting oneself. He could not help allow himself to physically agree with her statement as he understood it more than anyone could ever imagine. Having multiple lives throughout the centuries does that to a person.]

...it's common sense...when it comes to the topic of accepting a person's true self. [And just to make certain he really did understand.] The "true self" that you and your friends have spoken about is the individual's true face -- the one behind the mask we build for others, correct?

video;

[detects]

[At that, Naoto frowns. She shakes her head quickly.] I hesitate to call it a "true self". Rather, it is merely one aspect of the self.

Everyone has different faces; different sides of themselves. All them make up who you are, both the negative and the positive ones. However there are some aspects of ourselves we simply cannot accept even if we know are there. Even if we make consciously act on that part of ourselves or acknowledge it, accepting it as part of who you are is difficult.

I suppose because of that reluctance to accept it it gains sentience in the other world and breaks free from you, manifesting in physical form. And by killing you it can claim to be the "true self".... because it would be the only part of you left.

[windbreak]

Yeah, uh, how would we? [He starts to count off on one of his hands.] We don't know what threw us in to begin with, we don't know why it's still going on... Even if we did, these communicator things seem to just shut down in that other place, like they're too far away to work any more, so there's no way we could get the word out to people in time. Hell, we don't know for sure if you can escape the same way twice. And... [He hesitates as he reaches his little finger, just for a moment.] Honestly, to want to go back in there... you'd have to be crazy.

[discrepant]

[Listening to the type of situation the people trapped in the other place had gone through, Soushi will begin to reach for his small notebook that was hidden in his suit's chest pocket, he will begin to write down everything that was being said as he wanted to better understand the situation they were currently in.

Once Yosuke was finished speaking, Soushi will offer him a few moments of silence, just to be certain he was really done before he began to speak again.]

The current consensus of the individuals, whom have been in the city this entire time, believe over the situation as follows: we might be under another attack by Thiaza and her kingdom. One of the main reasons is due to the group of crows from before have been identified, by a few, as ice. Those very same people had attacked the birds beforehand and witness them melt into water upon impact.

[Now for the next point.]

Everyone that has disappear, their names are still within the contact list. We have been unable to get in contact with them. Now you have spoken over being unable to use the bracelets in any way in that very same location you had returned from, then it is easy to distinguish that everyone was taken out of the city. However, it would seem people are kidnapped by going through any source of mirrors or items that offer a reflection of any kind. Either people are being teleported to an undisclosed location or to another dimension of sorts.

[It wouldn't be impossible. In his world, there is a demon known to kidnap humans and Atavists alike by taking them to another dimension, where they can relive their favorite memories or desires in that space until they could no longer remain alive. Soushi could not help wonder if it is possible to create a similar space as well in Asgard by using magic. It couldn't be an impossible concept for Thiaza to create, right?]

If you wish to, please tell me more over the type of location you had returned from? The way you and your friends have spoken with clear weariness in your tone, it sounds as though it's a rather dangerous or unstable place to be in. Am I, more or less, correct to believe so?

[windbreak]

Thiazi... [It's a name he hasn't heard much about, not yet - but the little he has is enough to put a barely perceptible crease in his forehead as he lowers his hands, before he can think of anything else to say.]

Um, the place we wound up in? Well, it... to tell you the truth, it looked a lot like this one. Like, this exact city, just greyer. That's the first thing that made us think of that other world we know - or it was for me, at least. I don't know if there was more to it outside the copy of the city, though. Or about everything that could've been dangerous in there besides, you know, what we said. [He cocks his head slightly, looking sheepish.] It was kinda distracting...